• Residents in Auckland’s Greenlane are on alert after a fire set by an unknown arsonist.
• The masked offender put incendiary devices under several cars, destroying an electric vehicle.
• Kawau Rd residents have described the panic as the fire raged.

Residents of leafy Greenlane panicked as flames as high as their two-storey home tore through their carport, and they’re on alert with the firebug still on the loose.

“He’s just out there - might do it again,” one Kawau Rd resident told the Herald.

She was woken about 2am last Monday by her upstairs neighbours “frantically running around”.

“The heat was so fierce even about halfway into the house [about 10 metres from the fire], we couldn’t get out [through the front door].

A BYD Auto electric vehicle bought for about $36,000, was destroyed in Monday morning's fire on Kawau Rd, Greenlane.

“This window cracked, the paint was peeling and bubbling. The wall was on fire, the tree got burned.”

A car on the opposite send of the drive was melted.

“[The upstairs neighbour], he’s in his undies, my partner’s in his undies, running around. I was chasing everyone down.”

Her partner wanted to save his car, to her dismay, and can be seen in video footage running into the burning structure.

Another neighbour in her block of units said: “The guys next door were banging on my door and ringing my bell, and I thought, ‘oh, what’s going on now’.”

This car was set alight and attempts were made to start fires under several others on the same driveway, a police spokeswoman says.

His car, a BYD Auto electric vehicle, for which he paid about $36,000, was destroyed. He was disappointed, as he had bought his car for a bargain and was not hopeful of finding one for a similar price.

“The police told me [the arsonist] may just have been doing it for jollies,” he said.

All residents who spoke to the Herald were unsure of the arsonists’ motive.

Police searching for hooded, masked offender

The hooded and masked offender was spotted on security camera footage putting crude incendiary devices under several cars down the private shared drive.

The alleged firebug caught on CCTV before fire engulfed the vehicle and carport.

Residents spotted cans of a sort of accelerant under the vehicles and police swept the driveways for any more under other cars.

The woman downstairs said she and her partner were on high alert.

“Now we’re jumping at everything,” she said.

Today, Police said the investigation was ongoing and there were no updates.

The car was deliberately set alight and attempts were made to start fires under several others on the same driveway, a police spokeswoman said.

A witness said: "The heat was so fierce even about halfway into the house, we couldn’t get out".

“Anyone with information which could assist the Police investigation is asked to contact us via 105 and quote file number 250217/0165,” she said.

“Information can also be provided anonymously via Crime Stoppers on 0800 555 111.”

Firefighters were called to the blaze about 2am.

Two fire engines were sent to put it out, a spokesman for Fire and Emergency New Zealand said.

A specialist fire investigator ruled the fire as suspicious and referred the investigation to police, he said.

Raphael Franks is an Auckland-based reporter who covers breaking news. He joined the Herald as a Te Rito cadet in 2022.